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New legislative plan floated to fund schools

LISBON –All 12 local school districts could see an increase in state funding, some significantly so, under a new funding formula proposed by two state legislators.

Southern Local would benefit the most, with state funding allocation increasing by an estimated $1.95 million in two years. The Crestview and the Salem school districts would also experience an annual increase of $1 million-plus during the second year.

Beaver Local would benefit the least, seeing a net annual increase of just $207,115 in the second year, followed by United Local at $268,882 and West Branch at $278,658.

State Rep. John Patterson, D-Jefferson, and state Rep. Robert Cupp, R-Lima, led a work group that focused on coming up with a new plan for allocating state education funding. The group came up with what they say is a fairer way to distribute state funding that includes taking into account the cost of educating a child and the community’s ability to help meet that obligation.

The current formula for distributing funding among school districts has repeatedly been declared unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, in part due to its over-reliance on local property taxes. This formula does not even apply to 80 percent of the districts because of funding caps and guarantees, resulting in little or no additional funding for some districts, forcing schools board to seek an increase in local property taxes.

The plan under consideration eliminates these caps and guarantees. It also starts by determining a base cost for educating children in each district, adding in more funding based on student poverty, career technical education and access to preschool for economically disadvantaged 4-year-olds. Property values and income levels of a school district would also be taken into consideration.

Officials point out this is just a starting point in the debate, and that Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed two-year state budget plan includes of the same components. Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder announced this week the plan would be handled as a separate issue and not as part of the two-year state budget.

Following is a list of how much in additional funding local school district might see under the plan in the 2020-21 school year, based on last year’s enrollment figures:

Beaver Local $207,115

Columbiana $807,024

Crestview $1,286,085

East Liverpool $550,986

East Palestine $346,336

Leetonia $778,279

Lisbon $932,750

Salem $1,601,827

Southern Local $1,957,062

United Local $268,882

Wellsville $436,728

West Branch $278,658

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

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